Here’s who I nominated:

Tenor
Steve Ladd

Lead
Arthur Rice

Baritone
Mark Trammell

Bass
Jeff Chapman

Alto
Susan Whisnant

Soprano
Lauren Talley

Male Singer
Arthur Rice

Female Singer
TaRanda Greene

Young Artist
Dustin Sweatman

Horizon Individual
Dustin Sweatman (yes, again…)

Horizon Group
Ball Brothers

Group Of The Year
Greater Vision (I know they probably won’t win against Ernie Haase, but it would be a nice change.? After all, I get to vote for who I want to win)

Musician
Roger Bennett

Album
Live In Music City – Legacy Five

Songwriter
Kyla Rowland

After the passing of my grandmother on April 27, 2007, I decided that I needed to take a week off from TV, Internet, Forums, Blogs and even music.? My mind seemed to be a jumbled mess of all the events happening in my life and all of the aforementioned items just added to clutter in my mind.? So after a week off, I am back.

I must say that I am still carrying around a heavy heart, but my mind isn’t cluttered anymore.? It amazed me how much my life is influenced by the websites I visit and the TV programs that I watch.? Even the best music in the world [Southern Gospel to those of you who didn’t know…. :-)] seemed to be more of a hindrance than a help through the week, so I tuned it out as well.? To be honest, I didn’t miss it until this morning.

A friend of mine, Sam Johnson,? sent me a song that really uplifted my spirits and I thank him for sending it to me.? It was a recitation written by one of his group members to the tune of “Where We’ll Never Grow Old”.? Sam, thank you for sending that to me!

I also want to send a special thank you to all of my Singing News forum buddies for the prayers that they spoke for me during the passing of my grandmother.? You guys will never know what your friendship means to me.? I feel honored to be online with you guys!

To those of you who read? my blog, I want to give a brief explanation as to why there have been no posts recently.

My? grandmother (Nanny to me) is ready to make her crossing into Heaven and to be honest, my mind is not really on SG music right now.? I have a few thoughts in my head for future articles, but right now I can’t seem to focus.? Nanny has already lasted 2 days longer than her medical team said she would, so it really is a waiting game right now.? It hurts to see her leaving, but my heart is overjoyed at the thought of her getting to see our Savior’s face (I wonder what He really looks like?).? ?

Nanny is 88, so I really don’t expect an earthly healing (although my God is certainly more than capable of making that happen).? I pray now that her crossing will be easy and that her suffering will be minimal.

I’ll post more thoughts about her passing as I get time to put my ideas in print.? Please keep me in your prayers during this time.

In Him,
Adam

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 4/24/07

NASHVILLE – Ed Hill, baritone for The Prophets, was recently interviewed by Daniel J. Mount of www.southerngospelblog.com . Mr. Mount’s site is one of the most widely read web-logs in the Southern Gospel music industry. This feature interview, which will be posted at Mount’s site for several weeks, reveals numerous interesting insights from Mr. Hill’s fifty year career in music. Mount asks some unique questions and Mr. Hill answers them all with candor. The interview may be viewed here:

http://www.southerngospelblog.com/archives/340

Topics include Ed’s personal health and family, historical facts regarding the original Prophets (est.’59) and insights into the revived 2007 Prophets and their current recording project…which is under the direction of producers Johnny Minick, Michael Sykes and Aaron Minick for River Bend Media Group.

The Prophets Quartet is:

Tenor: Bill Baize…Ordained Minister / Evangelist…formerly with JD Sumner
? & The Stamps Qt. and The Smitty Gatlin Trio.
Baritone: Ed Hill…Founder of The Prophets Qt (1959), mgr-Singing Americans
? member of The Statesmen and JD Sumner & The Stamps Qt.
Lead: Paul Jackson…Pastor & nationally known crusade Evangelist, longtime
? composer of best-selling choral titles with PRISM Music.
Bass: Mike Allen…In the 90’s sang with Phil Cross & Poet Voices, international
? traveler with Bill Gaither’s “Homecoming” Tour & TV show.

Voting has began for the Diamond Awards.? You may participate online here:

http://diamondawardsonline.com/votenow.php

For my first interview, I was fortunate to get in touch with Rodney Baucom, General Manager and Morning DJ of Gospel Radio Station, JoyFM.? I’ve enjoyed Rodney’s broadcast for years, especially while traveling through the Piedmont area of North Carolina.? When I’m not traveling, I often listen to JoyFM’s online stream of their broadcast.?

Rodney has recently began a? new venture with a Top 20 broadcast of Southern Gospel music.? Rodney gives us some more insight on himself and his new Top 20 countdown program below:

AE – Before we start on your career, tell us a little bit about you and your family?
RB – By today’s standards we’re a large family. It’s me and my wife Kelly with four children: Chandler (15), Kylee (12), Reagan (8) and Casie (4). We live in Mooresville, NC and stay busy with school, church and soccer games.

AE – How did you get your start as a DJ and how long have you been doing it?
RB –I started in Christian radio when I was in college at Appalachian State University. I worked part time at an AM Christian Talk station in Charlotte, then did mornings for an AC Christian Station in Charlotte, WRCM. We started a Southern Gospel station 10 years ago in Winston Salem, NC called JoyFM. I’ve been there happily since.

AE –Funniest moments?
RB –Most of our funniest moments come from impromptu moments during sharathon. However, recently, I was announcing a song by Jessica King, and called her Jessica Simpson. We had some laughs with that.

AE –Do you enjoy what you do?
RB –Like a lot of other announcers, I enjoy the music, and love to sing it. I sing in the choir and in a quartet at my church. Southern Gospel has been in my blood since I was a child, and I still love it today.

AE –What, if any, Southern Gospel artists have influenced your life? Do you have favorites or as a DJ, are you allowed to say?
RB –Roger Bennett and Glen Payne were great encouragers to me. Brian Free has shown by example the importance of living what you preach. Ernie Haase has encouraged me to have fun.

AE –Do you sing or play any instruments?
RB –Sing a little bass . . . play a little bass guitar, but I can’t play and sing at the same time. And I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time either.

AE –Was the Top 20 countdown something you came up with?
RB –Yes. I thought that the industry needed a chart that was more in-step with what was currently being played at stations.

AE –What is the criteria for making the top 20 each week (Singing News Charts, Requests, JOY-FM playtime, etc.)?
RB –We have a list of participating stations that report their chart. I cannot divulge them, because I don’t want them to receive pressure from promoters or whomever.

AE –What are your goals for this new venture?
RB –I’d love to see the list of affiliates grow. I want to have fun on the countdown, so that listeners can have fun, and realize that it’s great to be a child of God.

AE –What time each week is the Top 20 Countdown aired and is the program broadcast over the internet as well as radio?
RB –Each individual affiliate station can determine the broadcast time. We’ll be delivering the program on CD format to each of the station’s. I might suggest that a countdown program sounds good on Saturday between 10-12.

AE –Have you considered creating an archive of the weekly program that could be listened to online?
RB –I don’t plan on having any audio on the website. Perhaps in the future.

Rodney’s Top 20 countdown may be heard on JoyFM at the following times:

Thurdays: 7-9 PM
Saturdays: 12-2 PM (repeat broadcast)

Tune into JoyFM if you’re in the listening area of the radio broadcast or listen online at www.joyfm.org.? If you have a radio station that plays Southern Gospel music in your area, call them up and tell them you want to hear the Southern Gospel Top 20 Countdown.?

(For more information on becoming an affiliate and broadcasting the show in your area, contact Rodney at the Southern Gospel Top 20 Countdown’s website: www.southerngospeltop20.com)